DENISA HAMAROVA

The mezzo-soprano Denisa Hamarova studied at the conservatory and then the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Bratislava. While still a student, she sang Eufemia in Leoncavallo’s La boheme with Chamber Opera Bratislava, Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the State Opera Kosice, Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi at Tyl Theatre in Pilsen, and then Mistress Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff, Gertruda in Thomas’s Hamlet, Fenena in Verdi’s Nabucco and Flora in Verdi’s La traviata at the Slovakian National Theatre. After graduating the Slovak National Theatre contracted her to sing Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, the title rôle in Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans, Frugola in Puccini’s Il tabarro, Federica in Verdi’s Luisa Miller and Mercedes in Bizet’s Carmen. A finalist in the 2001 ‘Hans Gabor Belveder’ Competition, she won a special prize in the Vienna Chamber Opera competition for best voice and stage personality. In 2002 she made her début at the State Opera in Prague with the rôles of Fenena and Gertruda. In 2003 she sang the title rôle in Handel’s opera Xerxes in Usti nad Labem, Munich and elsewhere in Germany. She also sang Musetta in Leoncavallo’s La boheme and made her début at the Prague National Theatre with Omar in Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer.